Academic Laughs for Halloween

On this, the scariest day of the year (except, obviously, thesis submission day), let us reflect on the ghosts and ghouls of academia.

From the creepy decades-old marginalia in dusty library books, to the examiners who seem to enjoy feasting on brains, there is plenty of opportunity for Halloween jokes. Here’s a round-up of some of the best bestowed on us by the academics of the internet.

And if you need a few more laughs, check out this Amazon page selling a ladies’ ‘sexy PhD’ Halloween costume. Actual female PhDs have flooded the reviews section with the most amazing comments in response. My fave: “I wore this to my friend’s Halloween party. Everything was going fine until some jerk asked if he could see my discrete variables and if my f-value was significant.”

About Anaise Irvine

Dr Anaise Irvine is the Editor of Thesislink. She has a research background in science and narrative. Her PhD research analysed how contemporary films and novels represent genetic engineering as a social justice issue. She has previously researched fictional representations of evolution and quantum mechanics. She has taught such diverse texts as Blade Runner and Bridget Jones’s Diary, and her most obscure skill is being able to turn novels into phylogenetic trees!